CLEVELAND COUNTY, N.C. — A mother and her teenage daughter were brought to a Cleveland County home from a foreign country and forced into sexual servitude, authorities said.
Jason White is accused of threatening the Nicaraguan woman and her daughter with deportation. White and the woman were married for three years, police said.
White’s mother, Toddie White, said her son fell in love with the woman online.
He traveled to Nicaragua to marry her, but she couldn't become a legal resident until they could prove that they were married for more than two years.
Sheriff's investigators said Jason White told his wife he would not go to court to affirm their marriage unless she did exactly what he demanded.
However, Toddie White paints a different picture of what happened and said her son is innocent. She said her son would never threaten his wife for sex favors.
“He loved her," Toddie White said.
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She said her son is a Gulf War veteran who is disabled and unable to work because of severe post-traumatic stress disorder. She said the couple seemed happy until Jason White's wife and her daughter arrived in Casar.
"She came over here and it seems like she just changed towards him," Toddie White said.
Channel 9’s Ken Lemon went to Jason White’s new home Wednesday, but no one answered the door.
"It just blows our mind how she could do him this way," Toddie White said.
Sheriff's investigators said Jason White's wife and her daughter were dependent on him so they could stay in the U.S., so he exploited them.
"He had too much control," Cleveland County Maj. Joel Shores said.
Investigators said his ultimatums ruined his wife and her daughter who were thousands of miles away from home.
"They had nowhere to turn or know who to talk to," Shores said.
Investigators said they learned that Jason White targeted his 16-year-old stepdaughter, too.
"Suggestive text messages through Facebook, Instant Messenger and some inappropriate talking," Shores said.
The major said Jason White inappropriately touched the teen, as well.
Jason White’s wife and daughter have moved out of the house and are now living with friends in Casar.
He is out of jail on bond.
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